Law, Language, and Science: The Invention of the "Native Mind" in Southern Rhodesia, 1890-1930
This book examines the mentalities of various communities within a district of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). Focusing in particular on white administrators and missionaries in the Melsetter District, it combines linguisitc/lexical analysis with historical interpretation, in an attempt to reconstruct what whites and Africans actually meant by the words and practices they used in interactions with each other. Jeater provides a detailed study of translation work in Mt Selinda, an evangelical...
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By the 1920s, linguistic and ethnographic projects to formalize the language and legal systems of Shona peoples in Southern Rhodesia served to impede, rather than enhance, knowledge about local communities. In the 1890s and 1900s, translation and ethnography projects were driven by a wish to manage local cultures and incorporate them into the new churches and state. Such projects required a sympathetic engagement with indigenous languages and legal systems, and drew on the expertise of local informants. Even so, during the 1910s, translation was often distorted because Africans and whites had different forms of meaning. However, when white settlers took control of the state in 1923, policies were developed that aimed to contain rather than incorporate African communities. Consequently, linguistic and ethnographic projects became focused on fixing and defining African languages and culture, setting precise limits on the identities and prospects of local people. Only those with appropriate qualifications were recognized by the state as authorities on indigenous societies. African expertise in their own languages and cultures was discounted. As a result, the possibilities of genuine communication and understanding were closed down, with long-term consequences both for ethnographic study and for the peace of the nation.
Acknowledgments viiIntroduction xiiiHegemony and Translation: Law, Language, and Science in a Colonial Context 1Historical Background, 1820-1897 21First Encounters, 1890s-1900sPoints of Contact, 1895-1909 37And the God Was Made Word: Translation in the Mission, 1895-1909 55"An ordinary palaver": Laws and Courts 77"Out from the smoky hut": Heathenism, Rationalism, and Uncomfortable White People 103Translation, 1910s-1920s"Can you not give the thing a name?": Translation, Ambiguity, and Codification, 1910s-1920s 125"The sanctity of a contract": Translating "Civilized" Values, 1910s-1920s 145"Thinking black": Text and Translation, 1915-1925 165Separation, 1920s-1930s"ChiBaba": Turning Language into Linguistics 187"I do not want the opinion of a native": Native Law and Custom, 1920s 205"The meddlesomeness of professors": Theories of the "Native Mind," 1923-1935 215Conclusion 233Selected Bibliography 237Index 245
